


One Big Ugly Family

by PapaNoLivesMatter



Category: The Boys (TV 2019)
Genre: Badnicknames, Multi, Sometimes a lesser monster needs to remind the others they have humanity, SuperHughie, episodic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-16
Updated: 2020-08-26
Packaged: 2020-09-02 07:17:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20272081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PapaNoLivesMatter/pseuds/PapaNoLivesMatter
Summary: As the newest member of the newly established Seven, Hughie-now the electrically powered I-On- has to navigate the tense relationships of six very disaffected individuals propped forth by their otherness. Yet in this new blood there is hope, an innocence that stirs something in the other six at the table and perhaps, just maybe it reaches what's in some of them. Basically a collection of episodic one-offs that feature a super powered Hughie and his six new best friends that just can't tell the damn kid no for some reason. (Also read the notes).





	1. Queen Meave and Helicopters

**Author's Note:**

> Hey so here's a personal dump that many of you won't care about but I just wanted to get this off my chest. The past week has been kind of shitty with my ex starting a lot of drama who just so happened to have been old friends with my now newest ex and said all these crazy lies about me and who I am making the newest ex understandably uncertain so now here I sit, single and reflecting that I have legitimately not liked the vast majority of queer people I have known throughout my life as human beings. So for that reason I wanted to write something light and sweet as I get over a breakup with someone that didn't even deserve me (I'm such a treasure by the way) because they would rather listen to a crazy fucker who was ostracized by his own family. So without any further, please enjoy my coping with the situation which I plan to update more before the fall semester starts and I break my back trying to pay for overpriced classes that are barely above high school level. Comments and kudos whether positive or not, are all appreciated as I try and experiment more with prose.

He’s nervous, jittery and every bit the human conductor that the cobalt blue and copper lightning motifed suit seemed to suggest. His breathing is deep even as the helicopter carries them up, up and away onto the next mission, onto the next slew of criminals that Vought-no-the world needs them intrude on and save the day. Its cute, in that long faun legged way as he shifts in his seat and tries to keep his composure despite the fact that Maeve can see through his bullshit. I-On is his name, dumb but it seemed to match him although his real name was supposed to be Hughie. How fitting.

“First time?” Maeve hedges across the short crossway, hedging out even as she leans backward, almost bored, against the metal seating. They deserved cushions at least but apparently black helicopters had eaten up the travel budget for this year. She’d have to pencil it in with Stilwater next fiscal year.

“Yeah,” he says unabashed, mop of curly hair spilling over as he smiles that small little smile that pokes the dimples around his cheeks and makes his eyes wider. “I’ve never done anything this big before, you know? I used to stop small crimes in the boroughs back before Vought drafted me. I would just listen on my police scanner all night long after my dad fell asleep and, what did Translucent call it? Zip-zap my way out there. Funny thing was, I wasn’t nervous then. Must be the helicopters right?” 

He could talk a mile a minute but Meave was used to the stuttering fans. She turns to cough and hide the grin on her face. Being a silent crime fighter so as not to worry his dad? He was cute, young and doe eyed and all shiny new in his suit that was tight to wrap around muscles that weren’t there but disguised with forked lightning and polarity charges so as to leave it up to the imagination. He was just a big kid, sweet though.

“You get used to it,” she replied and coughed again to clear away her giggling at his hopeful wan smile, “by the fourth or so it’ll be just like riding a bike and after that you’ll fit right in with the other kids at the big table. Did they give you a list of one liners for the camera yet?’

“Some. They’re a little dumb and I don’t really think it would be a good idea to try that here, not when they have all those people at gunpoint, you know?” the nervousness was back in full force and he fiddled with the wrist straps in an attempt to stave off the waiting. They should be arriving sometime soon, maybe. It wasn’t really worth getting up and bothering the pilot but it might put the kid at ease. Or make it worse. 

The helicopter gave a lurch, a metallic pounding sounded on the hull, probably gunfire but that should be fine. The hatch lights ran red, and the ground entrance in the back slowly yawned open to reveal the open sky and there, further down below, the last stand of some extremists holding the unfortunate yacht staff hostage. The Deep had been shafted in favor of the newbie it seemed. How funny.

“This is our stop,” she called across the way and stood to limber up before the drop. They would want the cannonball pose without a doubt and there would more than likely be some cameras already rolling for the moment. Meave weighed the likelihood that she could shatter the upper deck and split right through to where the crew were being held captive but decided against it. She didn’t want to showboat one the kid’s first day. Speaking of, he seemed to have been copying her but stopped when she cast a look over her shoulder only to pick it back up again when her gaze was returned to the dropping point. Her grin was impossible to suppress so she wiped around, pressed a quick kiss against the kid’s cheek and told him, “You’ll do fine.” before diving from the helicopter, the new kid following right after her in a shower of blue-white electricity.


	2. Translucent

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bet you thoties thought I had forgotten about this story. I didn't I just kind of lost the will for it after a while but I figured I might as well throw up something just for the sake of a writing exercise and to actually update a story that had a decent amount of tags put into it. I did make this in one go and I'm about to go to a delicious dinner so I wanted to get this done so I can food-coma tonight once I get back, play AWE when it releases tomorrow and go see The New Mutants (you MIGHT see some characters studies ala my Capes and Tabards story for the characters from that movie if I like it) on Friday. Anyways, I'm sorry for the people who genuinely were looking forward to this for so long and here is a new instalment complete with the wistful yearning for the cool winds of winter as its been over 110 degrees where I live for the past three months. (pls no doxxerino).   
PS: the format is a bit fuckie wuckie, I will try to fix it later and its not like its broken its just not putting in the breaks correctly. I will try to fix it later.

Town Square’s busy this time of year. Of course it is, with every shop bearing smiling simulacrums of heroes posing with the latest merchandise and the earnest faces of children pressed up against the glass hoping that, just maybe, they could become like them. The price tags, generously marked down in preparation for a new sales season, would beckon to parents as the colors drew in the children and the great wheels of the free market would keep on spinning.  
Translucent grumbled with his hands in the pockets of his jacket. He still didn’t like the cold or the slushy ice from cars driving over it or the fact that everyone and their mother would be out this time of year to do nothing more than gawk at things to buy. Had he the choice, he’d simply slip out from under the cheap clothes that hid his face, phaze out and be on his happy way back home by the fire. Unfortunately.  
“They’ve got fresh coca up the street!” He wasn’t here on his own time. He was here with I-On, stupid name for a stupid Apple cross promotion, and he wondered why that was for the upteenth time. Translucent had known why, of course. The kid had sought him out after a rather dull meeting at Vaught HQ in civi clothes and had asked his help for a shopping trip. Normally, he might tell the kid to fuck off if he was in a foul mood or maybe make some excuse that he had to go see his son who was thousands of miles away on the other side of the world. Yet there was something in the earnestness on Hughies face, in the way that he was an open book that everyone could read and wasn’t quite jaded enough to hide it or lie with it. So he’d said yes and trudged out with the kid yammering on in the middle of the busy city and nodded occasionally to the endless series of queries that popped up.  
They were minor things, innocent things, things like if Meave actually rode horses or if Noir was actually into cooking. Did Homelander have any hobbies? Like at all? Did A-Train need anything for the loft he’d just purchased? The fact that they could afford whatever Hughie got them and more didn’t seem to cross the kid’s mind and Translucent wouldn’t be lying if he said it didn’t stir a vague nostalgia in his cold heart. So they went from store to store with Hughie pouring over every detail of every item, examining the wattage of airfries and offering dumb jokes that he didn’t need to worry about the power company. Ok, so maybe Translucent had chuckled a bit at that.  
“Does she,” ‘she’ being Meave but Hughie was smart enough to name drop in public in the off chance that a passerby might care enough to recognize them, “drink those sports drinks?” He was looking over a blender, one of those fancy ones that could shred corn into meal and beans into powder.  
“The Rosie-Boost? God no, those things taste like motor oil!” Hughie frowned at that, lips pressed together as he chewed something over. He’d already torn through most of the stores hoping to find something and so far they’d come up with nothing more than empty hands and some coca warming up the older man’s hands.  
“I could always just get D’im,” an interesting codename for The Deep, “a new tank and maybe some fish friends. Or would he think that’s a bit weird and like slavery?” Translucent tried to keep a laugh from sputtering up his drink.  
“I just want...I just want everything to go well in our first Christmas together.” His eyes had glazed over, the blender being placed back down as he considered some faraway puzzle.  
“Look, Hughie, I’m sure they’d appreciate the effort” and by that, Translucent meant they’d just shrug and accept the free shit, “but no one really celebrates the holidays.”  
“But that’s why I should do it!” he insisted, voice raised as if enraptured with epiphany before lowering back down to a more self aware inside-voice. “That’s why I have to do it! To give them some Christmas spirit.”  
“I’m Jewish.” Translucent threw out casually.  
“I-uh. Good. I mean, not good-but not bad. I’m glad you’re Jewish but not like because you’re Jewish I just mean that Hanakah is still a great holiday and I meant to say ‘Holiday Spirit’ because when I was younger I’d always have good times with my parents when my mom was still alive-”  
“Hughie-”  
“But that’s not to say that it wouldn’t have been a good time if we celebrate Hanakah instead. But like if we were jewish because we wouldn’t want to do another holiday like it was just pretend-”  
“Hughie it's fine,” Translucent finally cut him off. “I tell you what, I’ll try to smooth things over with A-Train and see if we might be able to change his housewarming party into more of a holiday get together and I’ll casually drop that you’d care if it was more of a gift exchange thing.” Why was he agreeing to this?  
“You mean it?” Hughie asked, those eyes blown wide and an excited titter to his posture as he awaited confirmation like a child waiting to unwrap a big present. Oh, that’s why.  
“Promise.” Translucent affirmed.

Weeks later, pressed in A-Trains loft with his insanely expensive sound system blasting holiday tunes, they’d gathered to celebrate. Meager gifts were parceled out, some jokes when Deep opened up a pair of floaties that he chuckled off good naturedly and Homelander accepted a great quilt blanket that bore Hughies attempts at self-made craft. Translucent’s gift was pressed into his hands while the newest recruit stood by eagerly in the ugliest sweater the older man had ever seen. It bore smiling reindeer with noses that twinkled to light with each beam of the younger man’s smile.  
“What is it?” he asked before giving it a good shake. There was a metal clank and at first, he wondered if it was going to be yet another painfully Christmas item that his coworkers had picked out while knowing his upbringing.  
“Open it,” Hughie quipped and leaned back.  
Translucent undid the silver ribbon, pulled off the light blue lid and revealed its contents which turned out to be, “A dreidel?”  
“A special one,” Hughie replied, taking it from its box and holding it by the top, “hold out your hand and do that invisible thing.” Translucent complied, holding up a treated hand which Hughie had to grope for before placing the bottom of the dreidel into his palm.  
“I designed it based on the carbon that makes up your exoskeleton. It won’t be a complete reaction, I had to temper it a bit but it turned out really well when I tested it before.” Translucent opened his mouth to ask just what exactly it was supposed to do but when Hughie spun it along the cup of the other man’s palm it shot alight with silver and blue light that lit up the hebrew letters in displays of light only to pitter out back to their normal metallic color once momentum was lost.  
“Do you like it?”  
“I love it,” Translucent replied honestly and felt his own smile mirroring that of Hughie’s as the younger man’s sweater bloomed to full light.


End file.
